Zhang Xiaohua's birth date is approaching, almost at the end of the month.
In the past few days, Wang Tonghua and a few women in the brigade went out early and returned late, and went into the deep mountains to hunt chestnuts. Because she didn't have a ticket, she couldn't buy sugar in the supply and marketing cooperative. She wanted to exchange more money, so she asked someone to quietly go to a nearby home to buy brown sugar.
The rabbit at home gave birth again. Generally speaking, a rabbit can give birth to seven or eight litters a year, but if the nutrition cannot keep up, the female rabbit will not be able to bear it, and there will be no milk during lactation. Du Baoqin has been controlling them all the time, only letting them have three or four litters a year, sometimes five or six per litter, sometimes seven or eight, and at most eleven at a time.
There are too many rabbits, and the care is not complete, and often a few will die, so the more the better. This time, eight eggs were born. If they can survive until weaning, Zhang Xiaohua's eggs for a whole month will be there.
For a while, Jiang Rui has been digging rabbit grass more diligently. Almost the entire back mountain has been run for her, and she can be seen from time to time on the side of the road near the ridge. Sometimes she goes to the river to wash clothes. When he came back, he was holding a handful of dandelions in his hands.
After the eggs and brown sugar were exchanged, they were solemnly placed in the rice jar by Wang Tonghua, and no one could move them without authorization.
A few days later, Zhang Xiaohua had abdominal pain and gave birth to a girl at home.
The Zhang family came the next day. Her mother and sister-in-law were carrying a cloth bag, which was sewed with old clothes for the child. After entering the house, they pulled out a bag of dried longan from under the cloth bag.
Zhang Xiaohua's eyes were red when she saw it. The conditions of her family's family were not much different from those of the Du family. For this package of longan, the family did not know how much effort it would take.
The addition of a new child has added a lot of things, and several members of the Du family have divided the work. Du Youfu and Du Baoqiang had to go to the team to dig canals during the day. After work, they were responsible for filling the large water tank at home, and they had to take care of the private plot in the backyard. Jiang Rui still takes care of a few rabbits and three meals for the family. Wang Tonghua has experience. She sleeps with Zhang Xiaohua at night, helps her take care of the child, and washes diapers during the day.
Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t go out, and he ate all his meals in his room. Every morning, he had a bowl of brown sugar millet porridge, a steamed egg, and egg custard at noon. In the evening, in addition to the meals, he added a bowl of longan and brown sugar water. After a day or two, Jiang Rui went to the fisherman's house to pick up a crucian carp and stewed soup to give her milk.
Although this kind of food is not comparable to the wealthy family, it is within the capabilities of the Du family. These days, the whole family has restrained the belts of their trousers and held her and the child tightly.
On Friday night, when Du Baozhen returned home, after seeing her little niece, she was led to the kitchen by the sweet scent.
Jiang Rui had just stewed the longan and was about to bring it to the room. When she turned around, she saw Du Baozhen standing behind her, staring straight at the bowl in her hand, swallowing her saliva.
"I came back very early this week. Let's go wash your face first, and dinner will start soon."
"Okay." Du Baozhen responded, but he couldn't move. She lives in the school this semester, her academic tasks are heavier than before, but the food is not as good as that at home. She used to think that the pumpkin porridge at home was made with saccharin, which was not as flavorful as white sugar, but now all day long, her mouth is so light that she sucks her fingers.
Seeing her greed, Jiang Rui said helplessly: "This longan was sent by my sister-in-law's family to make up her body, we can't eat it."
"I know." Du Baozhen took two deep breaths, looking eager, "I'll just smell it, sister, don't worry about me."
Jiang Rui went to the house, and when she came back, Du Baozhen was still smoking the residual sweetness in the kitchen, looking greedy and pitiful.
She shook her head, took out the jar of brown sugar and looked at it, found a fingernail-sized piece from it, and stuffed it into Du Baozhen's mouth.
"Well... it's delicious!" Du Baozhen narrowed his eyes and said sweetly, "It's still my sister who loves me."
"Okay, let's set up the dining table and ask my parents and brother to eat."
"Mmmm, good." She got what she wanted and ran out.
Du Baozhen's greed didn't ease until Zhang Xiaohua was out of confinement and her family took care of her.
At the end of the year, the commune distributed grain dividends. In addition to money, it also distributed several cloth and cotton tickets to each family.
When Wang Tonghua and the rest of the family were there, at the dinner table, she talked about where the tickets would be used. When it came to cloth tickets, she glanced at Jiang Rui with a bit of joy on her face, "This year's cloth tickets are going to be used. Make new clothes for Baoqin, and everyone else will lean back."
"Isn't there more? Mom, I also want to make new clothes." Du Baozhen took Wang Tonghua's hand and acted like a spoiled child.
Wang Tonghua glared at her weakly, "Baoqin only makes new clothes after seeing each other. What are you doing for fun?"
Du Baozhen was surprised: "Sister wants to meet someone? Why didn't I know?!"
"You're a child, just read, do you know what to do?" Wang Tonghua ignored her and turned to Jiang Rui: "Tomorrow, I will go to the commune, sell the rabbit fur, and buy back the cloth and cotton, if it's too late , the good colors are all picked away."
Jiang Rui nodded, seeing Du Baozhen's pouting mouth, softly persuading her: "Xiao Shan Hao doesn't have any new cotton-padded clothes yet, so please make her a suit first. You are an aunt, so let the little niece go."
Xiao Shan Hao is the nickname of the newly added granddaughter of the Du family, and the first name has not been taken yet. Hearing Jiang Rui's words, Zhang Xiaohua glanced at her gratefully.
After eating, Du Baozhen followed Jiang Rui into the kitchen, "Sister, who are you looking for? Are you in a team with us?"
"Yes." Jiang Rui said truthfully, "It's Zhao Nan who saved you before."
"It's him?" Du Baozhen was startled again, "How could it be him? Sister knows him?"
"Help me burn the fire first." Jiang Rui put the bowls and chopsticks into the pot, added half a pot of water, and instructed Du Baozhen to boil the water, and then said, "It's not like knowing."
Du Baozhen sat under the stove, put some firewood into the stove, and frowned when she heard her answer, "You don't know him, isn't it weird? Sister, why don't you choose someone you like?"
Jiang Rui just smiled and shook her head.
Du Baozhen stared at the fire in the stove, and after a while, he seemed to tell her, or to himself, "I definitely don't want to do this..."
Zhang Xiaohua happened to be walking in the yard with the child in his arms. Hearing the conversation between the two of them, he snorted in his heart and went back to the house to see Du Baoqiang soaking his feet comfortably. a kick.
"what happened again?"
"What do you think happened to me?" Zhang Xiaohua lowered his voice and said angrily: "At the dinner table just now, Baozhen almost took our daughter's new clothes away, and you didn't even give a shit!"
Du Baoqiang scratched his cheeks, "Mom didn't even say to give it to her."
"That's because Baoqin opened her mouth! If she didn't say it, with mother's partiality, do you think that piece of cloth could still fall on Nan'er's head? I can see it clearly, this treasure is a blood-sucking worm. When everyone sucks dry, she will support her by herself!"
"There's no need to say it so ugly." Du Baoqiang frowned.
"Heh..." Zhang Xiaohua sneered, thinking of what she heard just now, what Du Baozhen said should never be like Du Baoqin, it was a big joke. She asked the whole family to raise her, study, go to university, and go to a big city in the future. She is a phoenix flying out of a chicken coop. Unlike them, the rural people, of course, don't have to be like them! I don't even think about it, without everything the Du family has done for her and without Du Baoqin's sacrifice, would she still be able to say such sarcastic words
"Let's wait and see, and see what this precious little sister of your Du family can give you in the future."
The next day, Jiang Rui went to the supply and marketing agency to choose a piece of cotton cloth with red printed flowers. From tailoring, patterning, and tailoring for herself, she completed it under the guidance of Wang Tonghua.
When Du Baoqiang got married, the family bought a sewing machine. Because he seldom made new clothes, it had accumulated dust in the corner. Du Baozhen turned it out, stepped on it every day in his spare time, and spent seven or eight days making a new dress.
She has been Du Baoqin for such a long time and thought it was the most interesting thing, so it took another two or three days to finish Xiao Shan Hao's new clothes.
In a twinkling of an eye, it was the end of the twelfth year, and Wang Tonghua waited eagerly, and finally waited for the news that Zhao Nan had returned home to visit relatives.
Zhang Liyun quickly told her the time and place for the two young people to meet.
Because it was the first time, the two parents should not meet too early, but Jiang Rui could not be allowed to go alone. The Du family discussed it and decided to let Zhang Xiaohua accompany them.
That morning, after Jiang Rui had breakfast, she was pushed into the room to dress up.
Zhang Xiaohua found out all his family background when he got married, painted Jiang Rui's eyebrows, and painted a little red on his mouth. Under her strong resistance, she did not put powder on her face, but she was white, and it didn't matter if she didn't put it on. .
After drawing the eyebrows, combing two braids, putting on a new suit, Jiang Rui came out of the room, Wang Tonghua and Du Baozhen were stunned for a while.
It took a while for Du Baozhen to react, "Sister, you are so beautiful today!"
"It's really good." Wang Tonghua said happily.
Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said, "Baoqin's craftsmanship is good. Looking at the cotton coat she wears, she looks no different from others. She is wearing a bulging bag, but she is clever and tucked it around her waist. It looks more foreign."
Du Baozhen nodded straight, walked around Jiang Rui, and held her hand: "Sister, I want to make new clothes next year, and I want you to do the same. Can you help me?"
"I think Baoqin won't be in our house next year." Zhang Xiaohua said with a smile.
Wang Tonghua glanced at the sky and told the two of them: "It's almost time, you all go, don't make people wait too long. Miss Baoqin is sorry, Xiaohua, you are her sister-in-law, just say what you need to say, and just ask what you need to ask. Ask, don't be cold."
"I know, don't worry, Mom."
The aunt and sister-in-law went out arm in arm. People who met Jiang Rui on the road had to take a second look before asking them where they were going. Zhang Xiaohua only said that he would go to the commune to buy some New Year's goods.
When the two walked to the commune, they saw a man standing under the bus stop from a distance. Looking at his back, he was as tall and straight as a green pine and like a sword.
Zhang Xiaohua whispered and laughed in Jiang Rui's ear: "Is it him? He looks very energetic."
Jiang Rui looked up, the man seemed to feel something, and turned around.
The author has something to say:
A cub asked if the male protagonist was sick. He was indeed sick. He was broken into 800 pieces. How could he not be sick? Hee hee hee, the male protagonist is sick, and the female protagonist is medicine.
Author: Come, come, take medicine.
Host: Good. (Happy ing… )